A chara, – I agree with Imam Ibrahim Noonan (Letters, July 27th) that the media should be careful not to associate the Islamic faith with atrocities that are carried out in its name.
However by the same token, it doesn’t help the fight against groups like Isis who wish to ferment the idea that being Muslim and European are incompatible when Imam Noonan states: “But in many cases they have not been practising Islam, rather they have been living their lives like Europeans – living a western lifestyle, drinking, [going to] nightclubs and [having] girlfriends. So their very lifestyles puts into question them being identified and classified as Muslims.”
It seems Imam Noonan has quite a narrow view of what constitutes life as a European. Considering that we need leaders within the Islamic community to be arguing consistently and forcibly against Isis’s warped ideas on theocratic grounds, perhaps it would be best if Imam Noonan focused on that rather than contributing to the dangerous idea that there fundamentally is a clash of cultures. – Is mise,
ERIC CREAN
Dún Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.
Sir, Andrew Abbott (Letters, 27th July) makes the point that Muslims are responsible for terrorism. It does not follow that Islam is responsible for terrorism.
Causation is not auto-reciprocal by nature. His argument is as fallacious as blaming moustaches for the majority of 20th-century dictators.
We must remember two things: firstly that the words “Islam” and “Muslim” refer to 1.8 billion people – and so generalising doesn’t work for a number so great; secondly, arguments based on ignorance rather than fact only serve to feed the hatred and inspiration of those responsible for these atrocious acts of violence.
– Yours, etc,
DONAL MAC ERLAINE
Quito,
Ecuador.